The Sydney Sweeney Phenomenon

The Internet is in a tizzy this week because of Sydney Sweeney, again…

A company called Novig released an ad featuring Sweeney to promote their sports gambling website/prediction market. The ad features the actress almost entirely nude, covering up only with footballs, hockey gear, basketballs, and other sports equipment. Clearly targeting a male audience, the idea was to focus on sports rather than the constant political coverage and war.

First, female athletes started to lash out, posting clips of athletic bodies and training. Olympic swimmer Ariarne Titmus, gymnast Gracie Kramer, and sprinter Amy Hunt all criticized the ad’s sexual nature, arguing that female athletes are constantly sexualized and Sydney Sweeney is setting women back by catering to the male gaze. Then, women on social media decided to chime in on the subject, accusing Sweeney of “setting feminism and female objectification back decades,” and “hypersexualizing the last place that women are not constantly objectified.” Women have used their bodies to promote companies and products for decades. This includes OTHER FEMALE ATHLETES.

And before you say, “Sydney Sweeney isn’t an athlete! She doesn’t represent female athletic bodies,” please save it. She never claimed to be an athlete, never said she was trying to embody female athleticism, and was not even promoting sports themselves! She was in a sports gambling ad.

Most of the women who are angry are claiming to be champions of feminism. How is policing another woman’s personal decisions helping feminism in the slightest? I thought women having bodily autonomy was a good thing? The real issue is that you can only have bodily autonomy if you are doing something the mob wants you to do. No one bats an eye when celebrities, female athletes, OnlyFans creators, cosplayers, artists, and more constantly post themselves nude or barely clothed for the masses. Obviously, the “my body, my choice” narrative only applies when allowed.

This isn’t Sweeney’s first time being the target of the Internet mob. In 2025, she was featuring in an American Eagle ad, “great jeans.” Her lines in the ad included “My jeans are blue” with the tagline, “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans.” Normal people know that they were just trying to be clever on a surface level. The mob claimed that they were promoting eugenics and white beauty.

If you don’t want to post your body for men to look at, then don’t! No one is holding a gun to your head. Since women are the angry ones, it’s important to mention that the ad was attempting to capture MEN. Men like hot women and companies know this. They want to turn heads.

When will people learn to mind their own business?